The Makorra Series
by makorrian
Summary: Short oneshots featuring Mako and Korra in various situations. Makorra.
1. Younger

In one of Mako's only memories of his mother, she's smiling at him. He's sitting in her knee, a cheerful toddler, maybe around 4 or 5, and beaming up at her. His mother. He loves her - and yet, he can barely remember her.

"Remember, Mako," he remembers her saying. "I want you to be strong. Always be strong, for yourself and your brother. You and Bolin, you need to take care of each other."

Mako remembers not understanding - after all, he was only a child. Now that he's older and now that she's gone, he understands. He understands that his mother wanted to prepare him for the life that lay ahead. It was, he muses, almost as if she knew.

As if she knew that she, along with his and Bolin's father, would die in a car crash on their way home.

Bolin was only 5 when they were orphaned. Mako doubts that Bolin remembers their parents at all. Nobody took them in; the only relatives they knew of they'd only seen pictures of.

And after all, what were two more children without parents in Republic City?

Since then, he's always looked out for his brother. Made sure that they'd had food, even if he had to resort to stealing. Made sure that they were clothed and had a place to stay for the night, one night at a time. Many times they'd been caught by the owner of whatever doorstep they'd decided to call 'home' for the night and been kicked to the curb. Life on the streets of Republic City was not easy, nor was it soft.

It was rough, hard and unforgiving.

Mako thinks that this is what made him this way - he's also rough, hard and unforgiving. They can't afford to make mistakes, can't afford to take anything for granted.

He barely remembers their father; he was always away, working long hours and going on business trips to put food on the table for them. Mako is sure that he gets this from his father, the will to make ends meet so that Bolin, his little brother Bolin who was so little when their parents died, who didn't, _couldn't_ understand what happened, who needed to be looked after, won't go hungry.

The responsibility for his brother fell solely on Mako's shoulders. All the pressure of parenthood, with none of the experience. Mako is driven by a will to make ends meet; even now, when Bolin can (almost) take care of himself, Mako feels he needs to look out for him.

After all, his mother told him to. He understands what she meant - he has to be strong.

Sometimes he feels like the whole world is crashing down on him. Not so much nowadays, moreso when they were younger.

There were times they almost starved, almost froze during the winter, that time when Bolin got so sick Mako thought he was going to die, that time when Mako got caught pickpocketing a man on the street and thought they were really in for it..

All these years have made him strong, if nothing else. He's used to not letting anyone in, shutting everyone who offers them even an ounce of kindness, even a smile, out (why would anyone care about two orphans on the streets of Republic City?). Mako has his reasons for being cautious - even Bolin tells him to lighten up sometimes.

Mako is relieved, so relieved, that Bolin still turned out the way he is - better than Mako expected, all things considered. Bolin laughs, smiles and most important of all, he's _happy_.

Mako's not sure Bolin understands why he's so driven to win the Pro Bending tournament. But the prize money - it means food, clothes, a roof over their heads; everything they've never had enough (if any) of.

They have to win. He doesn't know how they'll manage otherwise - they can't live like this forever. The rent for the shabby room they share now needs to be paid.

So he needs to be strong, always be strong for Bolin. He can't let anyone see that beneath the surface, cracks are beginning to show.

How long can he keep this up? But he has to, Mako knows that.

"My son," his mother had said, smiling down at him. "You'll be capable of anything life throws at you, I just know it. Remember I love you Mako. Always remember that."

And Mako knows he'll always look out for Bolin, no matter the cost.

He wonders what else life plans on throwing towards him; he hopes it's nothing too huge - he's just started to get things under control, he's got everything organized, everything planned out for them - but then again, rumor has it the Avatar's in town.


	2. Change

When Mako first sees her, he thinks it's another one of Bolin's many lady friends. Another girl Bolin's just met by chance, smiled at while walking past on the street, another girl who's been reeled in by his smile, charms, humor, who's come over to talk to him and gotten completely hooked.

There've been many times Mako's had to deal with crying girls at the door of their dingy little apartment, had to tell them that _yes, Bolin broke up with you, it's over, so please leave._ Bolin himself was usually off wooing another girl at this point, so of course the dirty work was left to Mako.

Except she's not hanging on to him, clutching his arm, laughing uproariously at everything he says, like it's the funniest thing _ever_, like all the other girls do. She just walks next to Bolin through the park, towards where Mako's standing.

But there's something different about this girl; she's not from around here, Mako can tell.

It's not just the way she's dressed – like it's the middle of the damn winter, it's spring for crying out loud, so what's with the furry skirt-thing and the boots? – but it's also the way she's looking around, like she's never been in a city before. Her startlingly blue eyes are wide with wonder, awe, as she stares at the tall buildings, the cars, the way people are so casually dressed, everything.

Mako's intrigued by her. She's not like anyone he's met before, never mind that he hasn't really met her yet, either. But he supposes Bolin's going to introduce them – he wonders why; it's not like Mako has a chance with her (he's not blind to how attractive she is, the way she's smiling at Bolin, her blue eyes), not like Mako ever has a chance with any of the girls Bolin meets.

It's not like he cares, though, Mako tells himself, not like he has time for a crush on some girl he doesn't even know.

He's too busy focusing on winning the Pro Bending jackpot, finding a new Waterbender for their team since their last one couldn't take orders - Mako can't stand people who can't work as a team, who charge off on their own like they own the place, so of course he kicked him off the team – and trying to make ends meet.

He won't lose the tournament. He can't lose. They _have_ to win, because if they don't, it's back to the streets for them.

Maybe that's why Bolin's brought this girl with him. Mako hasn't noticed before, but she looks Water Tribe – the brown skin, the way her hair's done, the clothes. That would explain the pelt and boots, he supposes.

The two of them reach Mako. Up close, the girl is even prettier than from far away.

She's seriously muscled, not to the point of it being unattractive, but to the point where it shows and _is_ attractive, and he can tell that she's strong. She's a head shorter than him. Her face is framed by her brown hair, with one strand hanging down in her face. She's smiling slightly, and when her blue eyes meet his, Mako's heart skips a beat.

"Hey!" Bolin's voice snaps Mako out of the strange daze he felt, looking into her eyes. He feels himself blushing. Not a good start.

"Mako, this is Korra! She's the Avatar, she just came here from her home in the Southern Water Tribe and she's never been to Republic City before! Can you believe it? Also, she can Waterbend, Earthbend and Firebend and I think she should join our Pro Bending team, Mako, isn't that a great idea?" Bolin's all but jumping up and down from excitement. Mako is reminded of that time a vendor gave him a balloon, when he was 11 – Bolin's that excited now, too.

Wait. The Avatar? She can bend three elements? Never been to Republic City before? Should join their team?

The information overload is almost too much for him to take in at once.

Korra sticks out her hand. "Hi," she says. Numbly, he shakes hands with her, trying to ignore how nice her cool hand feels in his sweaty one, trying to ignore the way she's looking at him – curiously, but also like she's reading into his soul – and trying not to make a fool of himself.

It's a long time since Mako's worried about these kind of trivial things. It's usually just the normal worries – worry about Bolin, worry about money, worry about food, worry about winning the tournament – the serious stuff.

He doesn't know what to say next, so he releases her hand and looks at Bolin.

"Yeah, so Korra was thinking maybe she could join our Pro Bending team," his brother says. "She's a great Waterbender."

"Bolin said you were looking for a third teammate," Korra says. "Pro Bending seems really fun, and I'd like to give it a try."

Her voice is perky, happy, almost sassy.

She definitely looks like she's got an attitude and a temper to match, somewhere under the surface. She seems strong, not just strong in the kick-his-butt way, but strong in the I'm-the-leader way.

Mako's sure he's going to clash with her, sure they'll both be trying to control the others, and he doesn't need this. Not now.

He doesn't need his chances at winning the tournament sabotaged by some reckless girl who's never even been in a city before. The Avatar, who's probably so full of it, being the Avatar and all, that she'll walk around like she owns the place. Who can bend three elements and will probably start trying to give him and Bolin tips, as if they can't bend their own element, just because she can bend three different ones.

"Korra's got to learn Airbending from Master Tenzin, out on Air Temple Island, but she'll still have lots of time to practice and compete with us," Bolin supplies.

Okay, four. She's going to be able to bend four elements, and everyone else only one. Great.

Korra nods. "Will you give me a chance?" she asks. "I'd love to learn, really, and I think it'll be loads of fun."

"Come on, Mako, give her a chance," Bolin says, obviously half in love with Korra already – why else would he be trying so hard to get her in?

Almost immediately, he comes up with a long list of reasons he should say no.

No experience, probably can't play as a team member, won't listen to him, too much trouble, but as Korra smiles hopefully at him – and he once again notices how pretty she is – he's sure it's some kind of temporary insanity – or maybe he's sick? – that leads him to grumble: "Alright. You can try out. But that doesn't mean you're in yet."

"YES!" Korra and Bolin both shout, high-fiving each other.

Mako's struck by how close they seem to be already – how long has Bolin known her anyways, a few hours longer than he has? – and he thinks that he doesn't need this, not now, he doesn't need to feel some kind of attraction to a girl he's just met, doesn't need the chaos he's sure accompanies her, and as Bolin grabs him by the shoulder – "Come on, let's go get lunch, Korra needs to be shown around town, too!" – Mako feels his tightly controlled world spinning out of control.

But he pushes that thought out of his mind and as he follows them out of the park, he feels something igniting in his chest, something he hasn't felt in a long time.

He can't tell what it is - happiness? Hope? – but he rather likes it.


	3. Jealousy

When Mako sees Bolin and Korra, laughing together at the victims of their newest prank, he can't help but feel happy – a rare feeling for him. He can't remember having felt genuinely happy for a longer period of time since he was a kid. There's always been the overshadowing worry – where's Bolin? Is he okay? Do we have enough food for the day? Where are we going to sleep tonight? – and the fear of getting caught stealing, the fear of not making it through the day.

His heart fills with.. joy when he sees them, sees his little brother so happy. Their mirth infects him, and he smiles slightly, a rare expression for him.

But there's something else there that shoves the joy aside, something darker. It's not worry, not fear – Mako is very familiar with those emotions, after all – but it's something.. not good. He doesn't like it.

And as Bolin slings his arm around Korra's shoulders, whispers something in her ear that makes her laugh even louder, Mako suddenly knows what it is.

Jealousy.

He's _jealous_.

He's jealous because for Bolin it's always _so damn easy_. Bolin never needs to try; the girls are all over his charms and babyish cuteness, his jokes, his laugh, his personality – everything that's about the opposite of Mako.

Mako has never let himself be as lighthearted or optimistic as Bolin. He's always had to look out for them, he's had to be the realistic one who deals with the everyday issues and worries. In a way, though, he's relieved that Bolin's never had to experience the fear, the worry that Mako has known.

But now, as he watches them, Mako is most of all jealous because it's _Korra_ that Bolin's arm is slung around, Korra that's laughing at Bolin's joke, Korra who smiles widely at Bolin who smiles back.

Ever since they met (but of course Bolin met her first, Mako's never had any luck with the ladies), he'd always been very aware of Korra. She was just so _there_, so in your face, always filling half of the room with her presence, and ever since the start, she'd infected him with her pure joy at anything and everything, her love of life, her laugh..

Mako knows he's in deep. But he won't do anything about it. He can't let his stupid feelings muck their Pro Bending team up – they really need that money – and besides, he knows he doesn't stand a chance.

He knows Korra doesn't see anything in him, at least nothing that she likes _enough_, doubts she even considers him as more than a friend. Either way, she's always on the move, always doing (destroying) something or getting into some kind of trouble with Bolin (which he later has to get them out of).

And for Bolin, even with Korra it's _so damn easy_ – of course they became best friends (if not more, what does he know anyways) immediately. Mako feels slightly excluded from the tight bond that they share. He wishes Korra would smile at him the way she smiles at Bolin.

He blinks rapidly, wondering why his eyes are suddenly all watery.

"Must be allergic to something," he mutters to himself, looking around the park they're in.

He's never felt this way before – the only crush he'd ever had was on his mother's friend's daughter, when he was 5, before his parents died (and that only lasted a few hours) – and he doesn't know what to do. He's never had time for stuff like this, what with looking after Bolin and everything.

Mako has no idea how Bolin does it. He wished that he'd gotten some charm too. Mako isn't blind, though; of course he sees the way girls look at him, smile at him from across the street. But they only look at the outside – Mako knows he's fairly good-looking in his way, not ugly at all – but they don't see past his looks, they don't see how messed up his childhood has made him, how hard it is for him to trust anyone.

He doesn't want what Bolin has, not the ever-changing faces clinging to his arm. Mako wants something real, something sincere.

And now he's fallen hard, of course, for the only person who won't spare him a second glance. Korra's always on the move, a whirlwind, and he's too.. damaged for her. Damaged goods. He tries not to brood on things like this, but it's become a habit after everything he's been through.

Always second-think things. Be cautious. Make sure this won't hurt Bolin.

Thinking like this is second nature to him.

"Hey!"

Mako yelps in surprise as a rock hits him in the head. Bolin.

"What?" he snaps, surprising even himself with his tone of voice.

Bolin looks at him curiously. "What's up bro? You were all… off in your own world or something." He waves his hands to emphasize this.

"Just thinking," Mako says. _Thinking about how jealous I am that you and Korra are so much closer than Korra and I ever will be, oh, and I'm half in love with her too_ is what he could say in this moment, but thankfully he manages not to blurt this out. "Where's Korra?"

"Some guy wanted to interview her about the building she wrecked yesterday. They've been at it quite a while, though," Bolin says, nodding towards a bench where Korra is sitting next to some guy who's talking to her and _holding her hand?_

The guy is also leering at her in an appreciative way that Mako's beginning to recognize and hates.

Before Mako even knows what he's doing, he's standing in front of Korra and the reporter - _yeah right he's a reporter, stupid boy doesn't even know how to hold that camera _– with his fists out, flames igniting, an impressive scowl on his face.

"Interview's over, buddy," he growls. "Get out of here."

The stupid boy gives him a frightened look and scampers away. Mako glares after him.

"Hey! What was that for Mako? He was just being nice!" Korra shouts, standing up and jabbing him in the chest. His heart misses a beat.

"I didn't like the way he was looking at you," he says quietly. His lack of anger seems to startle her.

"Oh," she says, just as quietly. "He was starting to get a little pushy, asking me out to dinner."

Mako sees red.

"I said no, though," Korra says smiling up at him.

His heart races. He hopes he's not breaking out in a sweat or blushing. Is Bolin watching? He hopes not. Bolin knows him well, almost too well, and Bolin will grill him about this tonight if Mako's blushing. Come to think about it, Bolin will grill him about this anyways.

He just stares down at Korra, seeing the way that one strand of her hair always falls into the middle of her forehead, seeing how blue her eyes are, the shape of her lips.

"Come on," she says, grabbing his hand – _grabbing his hand!_ – and starting to walk towards Bolin. He follows, knowing that he's blushing now.

It might just be the sunset, but when Mako steals another glance at her face, he's sure Korra's blushing too. Just a little.


	4. Quarrel

Korra isn't sure what time it is – late evening, by the looks of how empty the park is – but they're nowhere near finished yet.

She wants to be done, so they can go home and prepare the week-long or so vacation they're planning – not far, just to get out of Republic City for a while. After all, their next tournament is a while off.

"Come on, Mako," she calls. "Try again."

He sends a wall of fire crashing down upon her, but she's easily able to bend water from the nearby pond to block his attack.

"Again. You're not being fierce enough. To be a good Firebender, you have to be fierce, and you've got to channel your inner fire through your bending," she tells him. Korra thinks she hears him sigh.

They've been at it for hours – Bolin went back to their apartment within the first hour (Korra's planning on crashing on their couch tonight) – and Mako still hasn't managed to break through her defenses.

They're here because she wants him to be a more aggressive bender, to Firebend like she does, which he doesn't. He's not passive – far from it – but during Pro Bending, she's noticed that he doesn't attack as head-on as he could, isn't as aggressive as he should be. Not like she would be, if she was allowed to Firebend.

"You're not doing it right!" she yells after three more failed tries, frustrated beyond belief. "You're not trying hard enough!"

They're both glaring at each other. Sparks are igniting at Mako's fingertips – she's made him mad. Good. Maybe he'll bend better, then.

Mako stomps towards her.

"You think I don't know how to Firebend?" he growls. "It was my first element, my only element, and your third one. Stop treating me like you know so much better just because you're the mighty Avatar, when I'm the one who leads this team!"

Korra glares at him. She's trying to ignore the flicker of attraction she feels towards him – just because he's tall, handsome, brooding, because he's Mako – which isn't working very well, especially when his angry amber eyes meet hers.

She feels like she's on fire, grateful that it's almost dark and he can't see her blush. To hide this, she counterattacks.

"But since I've mastered three elements, then I'm pretty sure I have some kind of idea of how they work and what you're doing wrong!" she snarls.

"Oh, because your Airbending training is going _so well_?" Mako scoffs.

This stings. He knows how hard it is for her, how she's struggling to learn, how they told her back home that she completely ignores the spiritual side of bending, but she's really trying to learn from Tenzin.

"Has it ever occurred to you that I don't want to be a more aggressive bender in the arena? That maybe I calculate who, where and when to attack? That I don't just charge in Firebending everywhere like you do?" he continues.

She's never seen him this angry before.

"You have no idea how annoying it gets when you do this, Korra! It's like I'm never good enough in your eyes – it's not like you ever nag Bolin like this, not like you ever tell him _he's_ not Earthbending the _right way_, the way that _Korra_ approves of!"

With this, Mako turns his back on her and stomps off, leaving her standing there.

Stunned, it only takes a few seconds before her eyes fill with tears. Mako's never lost his temper with her like that before, never said such hurtful things to her.

Does he really see it like that? Like she thinks he's not good enough?

She just wanted to help him – she knows how much winning the jackpot means to him. She didn't want to change him or his bending, she just wanted to help him with this. She had no idea he was holding back on purpose, not attacking because of some bigger plan.

Korra supposes this shouldn't surprise her. After all, it's Mako. He over thinks everything, probably sits up half the night planning his Pro Bending strategies.

The lump in her throat grows. She's yelled at him and they've both hurt each other's feelings, just because he never shares his thoughts, never opens up. That's why she's never had this issue with Bolin – Bolin's more of an open book, and they understand each other.

Korra decides to find him and apologize. In his place, she would have yelled at herself too.

She figures she shouldn't push Mako – after all, he let _her _onto the team, not the other way around – even though she's not good at taking orders, and she can't stand watching people do something in a way she thinks is wrong.

But this is Mako. He doesn't take well to her disrupting his plans and his way of thinking.

She wants to tell him that from now on, he can bend however she wants. She just wants them to win, for his sake. Mako's always tried so hard to look after Bolin and now, all he wants is to win, so that the two of them will have a place to stay.

She finds him sitting on a bench just outside of the park, heads in his hands. She sits down, slamming into him, which makes him look up at her through – she notes - surprisingly watery eyes.

Korra opens her mouth before he can.

"Look, Mako, I'm really sorry. I just wanted to help you; I didn't know you Firebend like that on purpose," she says. She stops herself from adding "because you never open up to me".

He looks away – is he really that upset with her? – and Korra has to take a deep breath to stop herself from crying, crying because she doesn't want him to be mad at her, because she loves him even though he doesn't love her.

She stares at her feet.

Suddenly, Mako puts his hand over hers and grasps it. Her eyes widen in shock, and she turns to look at him, though he's still looking away.

Her heart beats faster, and she blushes, barely believing this, wondering if this means something, if he maybe likes her back – which she doubts, considering Mako's so rough around the edges that he'd never admit it.

"Come on," he says hoarsely. "Let's go home."


	5. Feelings

Sometimes, Mako can't stand Korra.

Those times, he can't stand her attitude, her arrogance, her belief that she's always right, how she can't stand to lose, her immaturity when she does lose (because even the great Avatar loses sometimes), how childish she can be, treating everything – the Anti Bender rebellion, Pro Bending, Airbending training - like it's one big game that she wants to win.

Oh, and he can't stand the fact that she can't let things go, can't just leave something best left alone, alone. No, Korra has to dive in and end up in the middle of every issue, fight, commotion or disagreement there is within a twenty-mile radius.

This is one of those times he can't stand her. As he stands there, fuming, he reflects upon the fact that, surprisingly enough, the things he can't stand about her are also the things he loves the most about her.

They define her, make her Korra, set her apart from all the nameless girls whose faces never stay in his mind for more than a second, a fleeting glimpse as he passes by on the street and happens to meet their eyes.

But right now they mainly just annoy him.

"What is your _problem_?" he snaps, shaking. "Do you have any idea how close you were to getting us _killed_?"

She glares defiantly at him. "We made it out of there just fine, Mako. They weren't even close to catching us."

He glares back. "They could have. _Then_ we'd be dead, if close enough to getting killed isn't enough for you."

They've made it back to his and Bolin's apartment - where Korra's been staying over more and more – but barely.

After their Pro Bending tournament, Bolin had left for his date with some girl who'd asked for his autograph, and Mako was left with Korra.

Of course, on their way home, they see the Equalists ambushing two benders in an alley. Of course, Korra jumps right in and starts hurling rocks and fire and ice and whatnot at the chi-blockers – Mako's not saying it was wrong of her (and consequently him) to help the benders being attacked – but it was totally her fault things took a turn for the worse.

Because of course she made such a commotion – when someone bends three different elements everywhere and yells and swears, it's not hard to figure out who it is – that even more Equalists turned up, so of course he and Korra had had to make a run for it, being that outnumbered.

After making the longest detour ever, running through all the dark alleys and narrow streets to mislead their pursuers, they finally made it home, Mako slamming the door behind them and panting roughly.

And now he's here, pissed that Korra won't take things seriously and gets them into dangerous situations without thinking twice. Mako's just happy Bolin wasn't there, relieved that Bolin's safe.

"Look, Mako, we had to help those people, we couldn't just leave them there-" she tries, but he cuts her off.

"Of course we'd help them, but do you have to make such an awful racket every time?" he asks, still shaking slightly from everything. He takes a deep breath to steady himself. "We didn't stand a chance, being that outnumbered, especially since Bolin isn't with us."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Korra grinds out, obviously frustrated at him. "I'm just trying to do the right thing, to do what I can to help. That's my duty as the Avatar."

"I know," he sighs. "Just try not to be so reckless – you could get hurt too."

"Yeah right," she smirks. "They'll never be able to catch me."

This infuriates him too – does she really think she's invincible? – and this little, catty comment gets to him. Combined with the stress of only narrowly escaping, it refuels his anger.

Korra is stupid.

She's nothing but a stupid, arrogant girl who thinks she can do anything and everything without consequences, who thinks she's so strong and bulletproof, who thinks she can save the whole damn world by herself, who doesn't _understand_ what will happen to her if she's captured, doesn't understand what will happen to Mako if she is, doesn't understand how there's no way Mako could keep going without her; just a stupid little girl who _doesn't understand that he loves her. _

He grabs her roughly by the shoulders and shakes her slightly.

"Do you really think," he growls, "that nothing can stop you? That nobody can beat you?"

She looks at him, puzzled, seeing how angry he is, how close to breaking he is.

"Well," she says, "I've got to have the right attitude towards this, haven't I?"

Unable to think of a response, overwhelmed with the worry (what if Korra gets hurt? What if she's captured?), stress (how are we going to get out of here?), fear (there're too many of them, what are we going to do now?) and anxiety (keep running, Mako, you can do it, you've got to make it) and unable to explain himself in words, he does the only thing he can think of to show her his feelings, show her how worried he is, show her he _cares_.

He yanks her towards him, closes his eyes, and kisses her.

He expects her to shove him away, to start yelling and bending and destroying things, to do something much more Korra than what she does.

She kisses him back.

His eyes snap open for a second before he moves his arms around her waist, holding her close to him. He dimly realizes her arms are wrapped around him, too, and this is better than he ever dreamed it would be and he wishes he could do this every day and she's actually kissing him back so does that mean-

"Hey, guys, look at this!"

Startled by Bolin's exclamation paired with the door flying open, Mako pushes Korra away and whirls to face his brother, blushing insanely, unable to face Korra.

"I just- hey, why are you two both blushing? What's going on? Did I miss something?"


	6. Dizzy

A/N: Not sure how compliant this is with the others.. but oh well.

* * *

><p><strong>D<strong>**izzy**

The music in the club is loud, but not irritatingly so, laughter and chatter easily overriding it. The dance floor is packed with people – it is fairly late into the night, after all – and all in all, Korra really thinks it's a great night to be out celebrating.

Except for the fact that she has no idea where Mako is – she and Bolin had convinced him to come out with them, for once, and he'd agreed if only because they'd just won the semi-finals of the Pro Bending tournament. The few times he'd come out with them before, she'd usually spot him halfway through the night, leaning against a wall, displeasure evident on his face as he looked around, the cheery atmosphere never having an effect on him.

She's giddy – Bolin is too – as they've both had a few drinks. Mako, being the level-headed, responsible one, never drinks; they've tried to coax him before into trying any kind of alcoholic beverage, but without success.

Now, Korra spots Bolin dancing, surrounded by a throng of screaming girls. She pushes her way through them, ignoring the offended screeches, and grabs him by his shirt.

"Hey, Bolin, have you seen Mako? I can't find him anywhere." She says, raising her voice to be heard over the din in the club. Bolin shakes his head, frowning at her.

"I thought he was with you, since you weren't dancing," he yells. "He's fine, probably off moping in a corner. Come dance, Korra!"

Bolin tries to drag them both out of the circle of girls swarming them, with little success, resulting in him tripping over his own feet. Both of them crash onto the floor – apparently, she'd had more to drink than she thought, she realizes as the room wobbles slightly. She struggles to her feet, pulling Bolin up with her.

"I'm going to go look for him," she says.

Bolin rolls his eyes. "Yeah, sure, you do that, but it's way more fun here, 'cause wherever you find Mako there's not going to be any fun or cheer, you know!"

As she unsteadily heads off in search of Mako, she realizes that Bolin's most likely right, and that this is probably a waste of time. Damn those the-Avatar-has-to-help-people instincts.

* * *

><p>She finds Mako sitting at a small table, his back to her, opposite an old man she doesn't recognize. As she draws closer, she can hear parts of the conversation; it surprises her, because Mako seems to be doing most of the talking – a first for her. Korra steps behind a pillar, leaning against it, listening.<p>

"- doesn't care at all about me and I love her!" she hears Mako exclaim morosely, waving his half-full glass in the air, and with a start, she realizes he's drunk.

"And I don't have a chance and she'll never even consider me like that," he continues loudly. The old man is nodding sympathetically.

"Well, maybe it'll pass," the man offers. "You know, just a little crush. You're a handsome young lad, too, I bet all the girls fall at your feet."

The man's right; the girls swarm over both Mako and Bolin, except she's only ever seen Bolin acknowledge them. But what does she know; maybe Mako's had loads of.. things with them. For some reason, that thought sours her mood slightly.

"NO!" Mako yells, loud enough to attract the stares of nearby patrons. Noticing this, he lowers his voice. "I'm in love with her!"

Korra's eyes widen; who's he talking about, anyways? She has no idea who he could mean.. has he been seeing someone without her knowledge? Maybe Bolin knows.. she resolves to ask him about it later. Best not to ask Mako, she figures, since she _is_ eavesdropping.

"Well, why not just take a shot? She'd be mighty strange, to reject you," the old man says kindly, wrinkled face alight with a smile. "What's to lose?"

As she stands there, Korra comes to the conclusion that she doesn't like whoever they're discussing. The thought of Mako with a girlfriend is strange to her, and she dislikes it, dislikes the thought of him touching her, her touching him, them being together, all of it. Vaguely, she wonders if she's jealous, but she rejects that thought, choosing to ignore it.

Mako's voice drops to a whisper, and she cranes her head closer to make out his words, leaning her whole body out from behind the pillar, in his direction.

"She's out of my league.." he mutters, sounding forlorn. "See, she's the Avatar."

The man's eyes widen. Her eyes widen.

And then she loses her balance and tumbles out from behind the pillar onto the floor.

It's silent as Mako, the old man, as well as everyone around them turn to stare at her. Flushing, she gets up, brushing herself off.

"What are you lot looking at?" she snaps, glaring at the people surrounding her, who, chastised, turn away. Mako, however, is looking at her with a mixture of mortification and anger.

"How much did you hear?" he states flatly.

"Uh…" she begins, not sure what to say. The old man gets up, finishing his drink.

"I'll leave you two lovebirds to sort things out here," he says, winking as he leaves. Korra opens her mouth to apologize, but before she can, Mako's on his feet. He pushes his way past her, through the crowd, and is gone.

* * *

><p>Korra finds him at the bar a few minutes later, and is shocked at the sight in front of her; two empty glasses on the bar disk in front of her, a third almost empty glass in Mako's hand – and he was already pretty drunk before.<p>

The bartender is looking at Mako with disapproval – upon seeing Korra put her hand on Mako's shoulder – who angrily jerks away – he opens his mouth.

"Is this your friend, Miss?" he asks sternly.

"Yeah," she says. "He's with me."

"I think he's had enough for one night. I don't suppose you'd mind taking him home? He looks like he needs some help getting there."

It's true – Mako's eyes are bloodshot and slightly puffy, and he's swaying in his seat. He also appears to have slopped part of his drink down his front. She's never seen him lose control like this.

She nods. "I'll get him out of here."

Pulling Mako off the barstool, she manages to sling his arm around her shoulders as he leans all of his weight on her, too drunk to shove her away. She barges her way through the throng of people to find Bolin – still dancing, still surrounded by girls, still drunk.

"We're going home!" she yells to him. He turns to see her with a practically passed out Mako leaning against her, and his eyes widen slightly.

"Do you need help?" he asks, slurring slightly.

She shakes her head. "It's fine, you have fun." Korra's sure that Bolin wouldn't be of much help in his situation; it would probably make things more difficult.

Once they finally manage to get outside, Korra inhales the fresh air greedily, sobering up fairly quickly due to the cool weather. Mako seems to come slightly to; enough that he pushes her away and stumbles off in the general direction of the Pro Bending arena.

She raises an eyebrow at him, then walks past him, turning to stare him right in the face.

"Look," she says. "I'm sorry I eavesdropped. Let's forget about that until tomorrow, and just go home now, alright?"

He glares at her through his drunken stupor.

"Go on then," he slurs angrily. "Make fun of me. Laugh at me. Go for it."

"What?" she asks, confused.

"Whatcha gonna do 'bout it?" he snarls belligerently. "Now that you know I'm in fucking love with you."

"Well," she says patiently, "I'm not going to do anything about it right now."

"Not good enough for you, am I? Mako the street rat. Never more than a friend, never good enough."

He stumbles past her to lean against the wall of a nearby building, crossing his arms sloppily. If the situation were different, Korra's sure she'd laugh until she cried. Now, she merely walks over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He jerks away.

"Let's go home," she says, sighing. Mako ignores her.

"I always knew I didn't have a chance, but that didn't stop me," he rants, seemingly to himself.

"Why do you think you don't have a chance?" she asks curiously.

"Because you're the Avatar, and I'm an idiot," he practically yells. "I was a jerk to you when we met. I pretend like I don't care but I do, and you're way out of my league and that's why I don't have a chance!"

Her mouth drops open, and all of a sudden she's pissed off, pissed that he takes it for granted that he doesn't even have a chance, pissed that he's given up without a fight, pissed that he thinks _she doesn't like him too._

Fisting her hands in his jacket, she yanks his head down, smashing her lips against his. It's not a gentle, romantic kiss, but an angry one. She sees his glazed-over eyes widen in surprise, then he responds, kissing her back, stumbling forward. It's over before it began, really, because then Mako pulls back, turns away, and vomits.

Korra sighs.

* * *

><p>Somehow, she manages to get them both home. Mako passes out the minute he flops onto his bed. Sighing, still slightly dizzy and disoriented, she makes her way to Bolin's bed, and is asleep by the time she hits the mattress.<p>

* * *

><p>The bright light streaming into the room wakes him; opening his eyes, he squints, head pounding. Groaning, Mako sits up. He groans even louder as the room spins around him, putting his hand to his face. Slowly, he opens his eyes fully, and looks around.<p>

At least he's at home. He has no idea what happened last night – apparently, he drank a lot, from the feel of it – and for some reason, he's wearing his jacket and everything. Frowning, he opens his mouth to ask Bolin what happened, but as he turns to Bolin's bed, he realizes that Korra's asleep there – also wearing all her clothes - and Bolin's nowhere to be seen.

He gets up, but as soon as he stands, the world plays some kind of very mean trick on him, and he crashes to the floor. The noise wakes Korra, who groans and sits up, blearily blinking at him.

"Hey," she says. She gets up and offers him a hand, which he gratefully accepts. She pulls him to his feet, and he looks down at her.

"I feel awful," he admits. "What happened yesterday?"

She frowns lightly, eyebrows creasing. "You don't remember?"

He shakes his head shamefully.

"Not at all?" she presses.

"Nope," he sighs. "But judging by the feel of it, I let myself get a little bit out of hand."

"That's an understatement," she says dryly.

"So.. what happened?" he asks again.

"Well," Korra says. "You got drunk and admitted you're in love with me, then I kissed you and you threw up."

He starts laughing from the absurdity – no way would he ever tell anyone that; his deepest, darkest secret, no way would _she_ kiss _him_ - and laughs so hard he has to sit down on the edge of his bed.

"No way. Nice one, Korra, you actually got a laugh out of me this time," he chuckles. "So, what really happened?"

She raises an eyebrow quizzically at him. "I just told you, idiot."

Mako can literally feel his blood run cold in his veins. "But.. you were joking, right? Some prank that you and Bolin came up with?"

"Nope," she says. "Sorry."

He's pretty sure he passes out again after that.


	7. Worries

A/N: I realize these aren't exactly connected anymore.. but at least they're still Makorra? Also, changing the rating to M due to some of these.

* * *

><p><strong>Worries<strong>

The sun is setting, the sky illuminated with fiery red-orange, pink and purple streaks, the cool summer breeze gently swirling around him when he finds her in a corner of the park, sitting on a bench by a pond, scuffing the dirt with her feet whilst staring morosely at the ground.

Noiselessly, he walks over to her and sits down.

"Hey," he says quietly.

Korra turns to look at him, surprise shining through the dismal expression on her normally always cheery face. She nods in response at his greeting, then continues to stare at her feet.

"What's wrong?" Mako asks, worried. He'd gone to look for after she'd vanished once the press meeting was over, once she was done answering questions and smiling and signing autographs – he could tell that something was bothering her, but she'd disappeared before he'd managed to escape the mob of screaming fangirls that were after him.

He's never seen her like this before; the always cheery, upbeat, bright, optimistic girl he's come to know has disappeared entirely, replaced by an upset, dejected girl he doesn't recognize. It's not like Korra to be upset over _anything_. He briefly wonders if something's happened with Naga – no, she was fine, he was fairly sure about that – or maybe her Airbending training still wasn't going well – but no, she'd been telling them yesterday about her progress.

She sighs, and he puts a hand on her knee.

"What is it?" he murmurs, looking down at her. Suddenly, he realizes that she isn't invincible; it's something he hasn't thought about much before, but really, she's just a teenage girl; she can get hurt, too, both physically and emotionally.

"It's just.." her voice is nothing more than a whisper, and he has to lean closer to make out her words. "What if.. what if I'm not as good an Avatar as I should be? I can't ever live up to Avatar Aang; people expect so much from me, and what if I can't fulfill their expectations? Just look at all he accomplished.. all I do is get into trouble, I'm reckless and I lack restraint. What if I… wasn't even meant to be the Avatar, and the cycle just… messed up or something?"

He's dumbfounded. That Korra would have think like this never occurred to him; she's always relished being the Avatar, loves being able to bend all four (well, almost) elements and shines in the spotlight. She's headstrong, yes, but it's not necessarily a bad thing in Mako's opinion. Except now, he has no idea what to say to her, no idea what would convince him that he doesn't believe what she's just said, not for one minute, because even though he thinks she's a great Avatar, not all people do, and they both know this.

Mako considers his words carefully before opening his mouth.

"Look, Korra, while you might be impulsive, you're not a bad Avatar," he begins, firmly believing his own words as they leave his mouth. "You're still young, and while you have a lot to live up to, I know you can do it. You'll do it your own way, not the way Avatar Aang did it, but your way isn't necessarily a bad or wrong way. It's just the way you do things. I don't think the Avatar Cycle messed up, either; just look at how easily you were able to bend the elements at such a young age. And you lacking restraint is something you can work on; it's all up to you, how you deal with it."

"Then if I was meant to be the Avatar, why can't I Airbend?" she asks, a faint tone of desperation in her voice. "Even Tenzin's kids kick my ass at it."

"Didn't Tenzin himself say that the element hardest for the Avatar is the one most opposite to the Avatar's personality?" he asks, remembering something she'd said once. "And besides, look how great you were with the other elements; it'd be unfair if you could bend all four elements just like that." He says this playfully, nudging her shoulder with his, and the faintest hint of a smile graces her lips at his words.

"I think you just need to relax, like they do," he continues. "And you can't compare yourself to his kids; they've been learning Airbending their whole lives, and they've been raised completely differently, Korra. It'll come to you, just give it time, and be patient."

Korra leans against him, and he slings his arm around her shoulders, holding her against him.

"I'm scared, Mako," she confesses quietly. "What if I can't stop Amon and the Equalists? What if I can't stop them from hurting you and Bolin? I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me."

He's touched by the level of her concern for him.

"Well, it's a bit late for that really," he says. "We're with you now, whether you like it or not."

"Thank you," she says. "But what if I can't do it, Mako, what if they win?"

"I don't know," he says truthfully. "There's no way to resolve this without force, without creating more hatred and animosity towards bending. They won't just give up and go home, either, so what's the right way to do this then? But we still have to try, if only because what they're doing, the way they're doing things, is wrong."

"I can understand their point, though," Korra says. "If I was a non-bender, I wouldn't like benders either. I mean.. just look at all the triads, the way they abuse their bending powers. I can understand why benders and non-benders can't live together in peace, not with the way things are in this city. But how can we solve this issue?"

"I don't know," he repeats, because he doesn't. "I know there's a lot of pressure on you, Korra, but I don't think you're the Avatar for nothing. I think you're the Avatar for a reason, because somehow, some way, you're meant to bring peace to the world again. And you will."

She looks up at him, blue eyes still troubled. "You really think so?"

"Yeah," he says, because he does. "I really do."

She reaches out and takes his right hand in hers, squeezing it.

"Just because we don't know how it's going to happen, doesn't mean it won't happen," he says. "Besides, it's not like you ever plan things out anyways."

Korra smiles slightly. "That's true. You know, you really do have good points, when what's coming out of your mouth isn't an insult."

Mako laughs.

"Thank you, Korra." He says dryly.

"Anytime." She answers.

"You ready to go home?" he asks, and at her nod, they get up.

"Thanks for coming," Korra whispers once they reach the Pro Bending arena. "And thanks for helping me out; it made me feel better, surprisingly enough."

He smirks. "Of course I did."

Before he can react, she's planted a kiss on his cheek, then raced off, in a hurry to catch the last boat to the island. He stands outside the door with his hand pressed lightly to his cheek for a while.


	8. Ink

A/N: So, yeah.. this one's rated M for intimacy/sexual situations, so if that's not your cup of tea, please stop reading.

* * *

><p><strong>Ink<strong>

The warm summer night with its mild breeze is a perfect night for going out.

Korra tugs awkwardly at the strapless, sky blue dress she's wearing – Bolin had said it would match her eyes, and really, he was right; it does.

Except it's strapless, with almost no back. Oh, and exceptionally low-cut and short; it stops at about mid-thigh. She regrets wearing it now that she sees how much of her chest is exposed.

Normally, she'd flaunt herself off in a dress, but today, she desperately wants to hide the evidence of.. an 'incident' she'd had earlier with Bolin. She tugs the dress up, hoping that it'll cover her chest and not expose her cleavage – right now, that's the last thing she wants.

She's not even dancing, afraid that if she does, the.. 'mark'.. will show. So now, she's standing awkwardly off to the side, practically wedged into an empty corner, watching as numerous couples twirl around on the dance floor. She's sure a drink would lessen her worry over this issue, but the she'd definitely go dance and then he'd definitely notice what she's trying desperately to hide from his all-too-observant eyes.

"Hey." The voice startles her out of her worrying, and she flinches in surprise. Mako.

"Something wrong, Korra?" he asks her, a faint trace of amusement at her reaction in his voice. "You look.. uncomfortable."

"Uh, no," she says, smiling brightly, her voice too high to be normal. "Just, uh, thinking."

Mako crosses his arms and just looks her, clearly unconvinced.

"Really, I'm fine," she says, even though she isn't; currently, she's breaking out in a swear, feeling trapped by his gaze.

And then he sees it.

Deep down, she knew he was bound to see it; she just didn't want to accept that fact. Denial was her friend.

Because Mako always notices everything; it's what makes him such a good Pro Bender; he sees the details that other people overlook, things that nobody else notices or cares about. Right now, she really wishes he was as unobservant as Bolin is.

"What's that?" he asks, pointing at her chest and taking a step closer to her. She takes a step back, her back hitting the wall.

"Nothing!" she nearly squeaks, holding up her hands defensively. "It's nothing!"

He quirks an eyebrow at her; they both know she's lying, because she's an awful liar; her facial expression always gives her away. This time, her panicked expression coupled with her unnaturally high-pitched voice is a dead giveaway.

Panicking, she racks her brain for a plausible excuse.

"It's a bruise!" she nearly yells with relief, as she comes up with something almost believable. "From training, earlier, I was training with Bolin!"

Mako still looks very unconvinced, looking closely at the blue lettering that's visible above her very low-cut dress. "That's an interestingly shaped bruise, Korra, because none of my bruises have ever looked like text. And I know you're lying, because Bolin's been with me the whole day today.. so you can't have been training, not today anyways. So the question is.. why the lie?"

Before she can stop him, his hand darts out, lean fingers quickly grabbing the fabric of her dress and tugging it down, exposing her chest wraps and the blue ink on her left breast.

She's blushing with mortification, barely able to peek up at him to gauge his reaction; not because he's acting like a pervert, but because she knows what's spelled out on her breast and doesn't know how she's going to explain it. If it were almost anywhere else on her body, she'd easily give him the truth, but considering where it is, the truth won't be enough.

His mouth drops open as he sees what's tattooed onto her skin; his name.

She's still blushing furiously as Mako's expression changes into something entirely different, something she's never seen on his face before; it unsettles her, but at the same time, a shiver of.. _desire?_ runs down her spine.

"Well, Korra, what have we here?" he whispers, his voice taking on a seductive purr as his fingers skim over her tattoo. "Mind explaining why my name is tattooed-" he grasps her breast lightly, and she can't help but gasp softly "-here?"

"It was a dare," she mutters, mortified beyond belief. "Between me and Bolin. It'll wash off in a week."

"But not just any dare, I believe," he smirks, his left hand coming up to tangle in her loose, flowing hair. He tilts her head back slightly, leaning closer until his mouth is barely an inch from hers.

"What makes you think that?" she asks defiantly, trying not to show him the effect he's having on her; her heart is pounding furiously and strange feelings are coursing through her. "Bolin was just trying to tease me, and you."

"Because, Korra," he whispers, hot breath fanning over her lips. "I know my brother, and if he'd wanted to tease me, he'd have had you tattoo my name somewhere.. more exposed, so that I'd see it. And then you'd laugh it off and tell me it was just a dare. But this-" he traces his fingertips over the tattoo again; she shivers "was meant for you, and you alone. He dared you to do this because it's meant to embarrass you."

Damn him; Korra has no idea how he can read her like an open book. It must be the way he always observes her; silently, calculating. Just like in Pro Bending.

"Which means," Mako continues, "that you… have feelings for me. That you like me as more than a friend. Am I right?"

She shakes her head, lips pressed shut, trying valiantly to deny what they both know to be true.

Mako chuckles; the sound sends a jolt through her body that settles into an aching between her legs. She blushes again.

"Don't deny it," he whispers, then leans into kiss her.

Never in her wildest dreams – and she'd had a fair share of wild dreams involving Mako recently – had she imagined that kissing him would be like this. She gasps into his mouth at the sensations, kissing him back greedily, hands fisting in his shirt and drawing him closer.

He pulls back, smirking at her as she breathes heavily, gazing at him.

"So," he says. "Isn't it a good thing that I feel the same way?"

"You… do?" she asks, struggling to form coherent words. Mako merely tilts his head and smiles crookedly at her – her heart beats out a jagged, erratic rhythm at the burning look in his eyes.

"I'll prove it," he whispers, his breath ghosting over her lips again.

"Are you drunk?" she asks bluntly, surprised at how straightforward, how assertive Mako's being. She'd never have expected him to be this.. dominant, but somehow, it's even more arousing. As long as he's not doing this because of alcohol.

"Nope," he states dryly, and she knows it to be the truth.

"But what if someone sees?" she whispers nervously.

He grins at her. "Then let them see."

"Mako!" she hisses, swatting him on the shoulder. "I don't want this to be in the newspaper tomorrow or anything! Tenzin would kill me!"

"You'll have to be quiet then," he whispers, leaning in to kiss her again. His hands go to her chest, brushing over her breasts through the thin fabric; she shudders, moaning into his mouth, as his hands tweak her nipples and palm her breasts. Korra can feel the wetness seeping from between her thighs; it embarrasses her slightly; especially the fact that they're actually in public, with Bolin somewhere in the same room.

Suddenly, one of his hands goes to her bare thigh, his fingers tracing a path upwards.

"You have no idea how you look in this dress," Mako mutters, pulling back slightly. "I've been wanting to do this for so long."

Before she can ask what exactly it is he's been wanting to do, his fingers push her underwear aside and then he slips two fingers into her. She gasps in surprise, hips jerking against his hand.

"This.. really.. isn't appropriate," she grits out as he begins slowly sliding his fingers in and out of her.

"Don't deny that you want this," he murmurs softly. "I can feel how wet you are, wet for me."

His words arouse her even more, and she whimpers, grinding against his hand. She gasps as his thumb brushes her clit, and he smirks.

"Come on, Korra," he whispers. "Let go for me. Right here. I won't let you fall."

Which is a good thing, since he's practically holding her up completely as she sags against the wall, overcome by the sensations as his fingers move faster and faster. He adds a third finger – she moans loudly, then blushes, despite herself.

"It's okay," Mako murmurs against her neck, as he covers her from view. "You'll have to be quiet, though."

With that being said, his thumb brushes her clit again as his fingers move in and out, and she has to muffle her scream as she comes, sagging against him completely and burying her face in his neck, lights dancing in front of her eyes.

Panting, she clutches onto him as he steadies her, smoothing out her dress. She risks a look over his shoulder; surprisingly, nobody's watching them; she's grateful for the loud music, for once.

Meeting Mako's gaze, she blushes at the thought of what they've just done, opening her mouth to come up with some excuse for her shameless behavior.

"Don't," he says, wiping his hand on his pants. "We both know you don't regret this."

She sighs at the words of truth that come from his mouth. "Now what?"

"Well," he murmurs, smirking wickedly at her. "Why don't we go home and finish this? It's my turn next. Oh, and you should keep that tattoo; it looks good on you."


	9. Interrupted

A/N: Requires having seen episode 2 to be understood fully.

* * *

><p><strong>Interrupted<strong>

"We made it!" she yells, tackling Mako and Bolin in a group hug.

"We're in the finals! Can you believe it?" Bolin exclaims just as loudly next to her. Even Mako's smile is radiant, his eyes watering, Korra notices.

The applause is deafening, the cheers from the audience even more so. The three of them stand there, waving and beaming with joy, while the cameras flash and the announcer exclaims something unintelligible to her ears. To Korra, it almost feels like they've won the whole championship; she can't remember having been this happy or feeling this accomplished in a long time.

With her arms around Mako and Bolin, they head off to change, all three of them too emotional to speak.

It's quieter in the changing rooms, Korra notes with a sigh of relief, as she sheds her uniform.

Bolin leaves in a hurry – she supposes he's off to sign autographs and get his picture taken, which doesn't really surprise her at all; of course he's basking in the moment, but really, that just means she and Mako don't have to stand still and smile for the cameras, which is a relief. Mako grins at her.

"Good job, Korra," he says hoarsely. "We couldn't have done it without you."

She smiles at him. "Nah, you were great, too."

Suddenly, a strange, blazing look crosses his face, and before she knows what's happened, she's pressed against the wall, Mako's lips firmly against hers. Her eyes widen slightly at this new development, before she gives in and deepens the kiss, shutting her eyes.

Too soon, Mako pulls away, blushing furiously. He opens his mouth to say something – she's sure he's going to apologize or make an excuse for his actions, but before he can, she kisses him, arms wrapping around his neck to pull him closer.

He moans quietly into her mouth, and that simple noise makes her shiver in response as her hands roam his muscled back, exploring. His hands – to her slight embarrassment and even greater surprise – go immediately to her chest, however hesitantly.

Mako pulls back, still red-faced, and gazes at her. "Is this.. alright?" he asks quietly.

She nods, also blushing furiously, but not wanting to stop; Korra finds she really likes the way he's making her feel.

She's just about to tug off his shirt - he's already untied the pelt around her waist – when the door to the changing rooms slams open.

Quickly, they step away from each other, both of them blushing, and glaring at the intruder.

Mako is the first to speak.

"What the hell, Hasook?"


	10. Comfort

**Comfort**

She surfaces, gasping for breath, greedily sucking the cool night air into her lungs.

As she looks up, judging the distance to the open window of the arena's attic, she smiles at how this is exactly what she did the first time she snuck out; here she is, swimming off to the Pro Bending Arena in the middle of the night again. Just like old times.

Korra bends the water around herself, propelling herself up on a waterspout, aiming for the window. Unfortunately, she's misjudged the distance, and instead of gracefully landing on her feet like she'd planned, she crashes into the wall instead.

"Ow.." she whines, dazed. She rubs her head and looks around the small room Mako and Bolin share. Bolin's bed is empty – she supposes he's out partying it up with his fangirls swooning all over him someplace in the city.

She would have gone too, really, if it hadn't been for her Airbending training. She really is trying not to let her temper get the best of her, and it's working – she's been able to get through the spinning gates twice today without crashing into them. She thought Tenzin had looked pleased.

"Korra? What are you doing?" Mako's sleep-laden voice brings her out of her daze. He's staring questioningly at her, obviously wondering why she's crashed into his room in the middle of the night.

She's not sure what brought her here – she just felt lonely out on Air Temple Island. She couldn't fall asleep, and just the thought of Mako and Bolin a stone's toss away made her feel less lonely. So why not pay them a visit, never mind that normal people didn't pay surprise visits to friends in the middle of the night? Korra's never done things the normal way, anyway.

"I couldn't sleep," she says, getting up and walking over to him, gazing down at him. With a start, she realizes he's not wearing a shirt, and she has to force her gaze away from his muscled, toned chest. She feels herself blushing, grateful for the cover of the night.

"Move over," she says.

Instead of doing a she says, he merely raises an eyebrow at her.

"I'm cold," she whines, looking at him imploringly.

"You're dripping on the floor," he states matter-of-factly, and she notes that she's forgotten to dry herself off. She sighs, steps away from him, and bends a whirlwind of fire around herself, effectively drying herself off.

She crosses her arms.

"Happy?" she asks.

He half-smiles and scoots over towards the wall, lifting the edge of the covers up for her. She wastes no time in crawling into his bed, snuggling up against him. She's not sure if this had been what she'd planned when she set out from the island, not sure if this is changing things between them, but she knows that right now, right here, this is what she wants – all she wants.

After a few seconds hesitation, Mako puts an arm around her, drawing her closer. She breathes in his musky, unique scent and sighs softly, her head tucked under his chin. His fingers comb through her hair.

"Sorry I woke you up," she mutters softly, for lack of anything better to say.

He chuckles.

"It's okay."


	11. And The World Lies In Ruin

**And The World Lies In Ruin**

The unspoken words hang between them, the sorrow thick as fog, an almost tangible thing. She puts her hand on his shoulder - he thinks to throw it off, but it doesn't matter, nothing matters anymore - so he doesn't. In that gesture, she's trying to convey all the words she can never say, the apology that won't change anything, not anymore, the words she wishes would change something.

Anything.

If the situation had been different, she would open her mouth and say; "I'm sorry. It'll be okay, don't worry, everything will work out. We'll find him, we'll get there before anything happens. We can do it."

But there are barriers neither of them can cross, differences and distances that span an abyss between them. She doesn't understand what he's going through, can't possibly relate, and she knows this as well as he does.

So when everything crushes him, makes him fall to his knees and let out a terrible, keening wail of pure grief that will haunt her for a long time, she stands beside him, silent. Resilient, even as the grief claws at her insides, begging to be let out, demanding it. But now, in this moment, someone has to be strong. He's always been the strong one, always, and what would he do, with no one to be strong for him?

So she offers him the only comfort she can, however useless it is in this moment; her companionship. She wants to tell him that he's not alone anymore. But his sharp, stinging, cruel retort would find its target; "You don't know anything. How could you? You've never cared about anyone like this, you don't know what it's like."

He is numb.

This numbness vaguely reminds him of once, during the coldest winter Republic City had had, when they almost froze to death. This numbness paralyzes him, tranquilizes him, renders him unfeeling to the world around him, to his own physical pain. His arm is broken, his ankle twisted, a few ribs broken and bruises have already begun to spread their way across his alabaster skin. She's in no better condition; limping, broken bones, bruises, cuts, bloody abrasions. They're neither of them in any shape for a pursuit, and they know it.

Defeat.

It tastes bitter. He tastes bile in his throat, wonders if he's going to throw up, not that he can get up. Because the world has slowed to a halt around him, the numbness is slowly killing him, and nothing matters to him anymore.

Everything he has ever fought for is gone. Everything he has ever cared about is gone. In this moment, with the tears running silently down his face, even the friendship of the broken, bloody Avatar who fought alongside them means nothing, however filled with well-intentions she is. However filled with well-intentions anyone is.

She's crying silently too, sinks to her knees on the ground next to him, her hand falling from his shoulder to cover his hand. He doesn't have the will to removes his hand, doesn't think to care. Had this been a different situation, her hand covering his would have delighted him. It would have sent a jolt through him, would have had his heart beating out a jagged, twice as fast as normal rhythm, would have made him blush as he shyly held her hand.

But now, here, it means nothing to him, and the desperateness in the way she clenches her hand almost tells him what he knows she wants to say if she could. "I care about him, too. You're not the only one." He wants to acknowledge this, wants to tell her "I know. He'll be okay. We all will.", but these would be empty lies to fall upon deaf ears. They both know how impossible it will be to locate him; they have nothing to go on, no leads, but they will never stop trying.

He knows he will die trying, if it boils down to that.

For now, though, he merely feels as if his heart is breaking, as if time has stopped and life is going on without him, which it is. As he struggles to his feet, dragging Korra to hers, he realizes that his carefully constructed, previously controlled world has fallen into ruin, the remnants lying at his feet.

He has never known a life without his little brother. And now, the little boy that he promised to protect is gone, the boy that he has spent a lifetime protecting, caring for, looking after, is in the hands of the enemy, where they will surely do unspeakable things to him. Somewhere impossible to find.

He has failed.


	12. Distraction

**Distraction**

For once, Korra doesn't open her mouth and regale him with the thousands of questions that usually spill from her mouth when she's confused. There's no _where are we going, Mako? What's going on? Are you okay? _from her; instead, she merely follows him as he drags her by her hand towards the attic.

Stumbling inside, his lips smash against hers as he fumbles hurriedly to discard his jacket and scarf, carelessly dropping them on the floor as he steers her gently towards his bed. The added distraction of her hands working away at his pants let him forget how silent it is in the attic, how empty it feels without his little brother. He knows this is wrong, knows that he shouldn't be using her as an escape, as a way to forget, knows that there will be repercussions from his actions. But he can't find int in himself to care, and, after all, she isn't protesting.

Quite the opposite.

He loses himself in the sensations as her hand strokes the bulge in his pants, loses himself in the feeling of her breasts in his hands, the way her lips move against his. The way their tongues clash together in a battle for dominance.

They fall in a tangled heap of limbs onto his bed, hastily ripping off the other's clothing, and then his hand is between her legs and she's making the most wondrous sounds which numb the pain inside him, which help him forget. At his moment of hesitation, she meets his questioning, still unsure gaze and nods, smiling slightly. Her gaze is knowing, which makes him feel guilty for a moment.

But then he's pushing inside of her, and nothing has ever felt this good before, she feels so good, better than he could have imagined, he loses himself in her, thrusting into her quickly, forcefully. She's moaning and whimpering and making the most delightful noises, and it pushes him over the edge faster than he thought was possible. He feels her come just after him, clutching he shoulders, his name spilling from her lips in a way he never wants to forget.

And all too soon, it's over, and as he slings an arm over her and as she curls up against him, falling asleep, he realizes that this doesn't change anything, not between them. Because Bolin is still gone, still in the hands of the enemy, and no matter how wonderful this was, it was gone too soon, and the fleeting happiness, the contentment he'd felt in her arms vanishes, leaving him, once more, alone.


	13. Touch

A/N: Based on episode 3.

* * *

><p><strong>Touch<strong>

He's not used to any kind of physical closeness, not since his parents died.

Sure, he can, if he tries, recall the giant bear hugs his father would sweep him up in after coming home from work, the gentle embraces from his mother at bedtime, caresses of his face, kisses on his cheek.

But these memories have faded, become vague as the memories of a life on the streets crowds them out. The memories that really stick out now are of fear, worry, struggling to get by. To make sure Bolin had enough to eat, that Bolin was okay.

Mako has never had anyone, other than Bolin, to hug, hold, or just.. Touch. So when he groggily opens his eyes, still leaning against Naga in the park, he's very aware of Korra leaning against him, her head resting on his shoulder.

He closes his eyes, trying to keep his breathing even, all the while finding the warmth that comes from her body against his pleasant, comforting even. He can't remember the last time he's been close to someone, not this way. With a start, he realizes that she trusts him, completely.

But he knows what her reaction will be when she wakes, and when she does, he pretends to be surprised, jerking away from her. And even as they confront the protestor, he can't help but remember the lingering feel of her leaning against him.

And Mako knows it can't be, not in a world where she's the Avatar, a teenage Avatar in the midst of an Anti-Bending revolution, surrounded by danger. It's not that he's afraid of being caught up in it; by befriending her, he's already a part of it. He's already made enemies. But something between the would distract her, would make her vulnerable, would be a potential weakness.

So he shoves these thoughts aside, ignoring the strange melancholy they invoke in him.

When she takes his arm, he's surprised, instinctively asking her what she's doing, if only to hear her answer. He tries to concentrate on the task at hand, but he can't, because all the while he can only think of how nice it feels to be touched, how nice it feels to have someone with you like this.

And, that night, long after Korra has left for the island, he lies awake.

And he hungers for more.


	14. Untitled

They're at it again. Bolin sighs and turns up the volume on the radio, cranking the knob to the right, trying to tune out the yelling in the other room accompanied by various noises; thuds that are Korra pushing Mako into the wall, Mako shoving her away from him and an 'oomph', which would be Korra punching Mako in the stomach.

Bolin knows all these noises well; after a few weeks of this routinely happening, one would have to be deaf not to have learned what the various noises from the other room entail. A swoosh and the scent of burning hair means one of the two has set the other's hair on fire. Apparently, this is an intense fight, even by Mako and Korra's standards.

However, they're both very physical people, which is why they choose to pummel each other rotten instead of just talking about the issue at hand and their feelings. Bolin thinks that Mako, at least, is emotionally handicapped; unable to express himself in words, but choosing to express himself through actions. If he chooses to express himself at all.

He strains to hear the voice coming from the radio - it's his favorite program, which is each Sunday from 3 - 3:30; All About Fire Ferrets. Everything on how to take care of your Fire Ferret, how to train said Ferret, what to feed him, how to groom him, etc. Oh, and most importantly in Bolin and Pabu's case, how to potty train your Fire Ferret. A necessary skill that Pabu, sadly, lacks. Only yesterday Mako found his shoes covered in Ferret urine, and, with the threat to use Pabu's pelt as his new scarf, pointed pointedly at the radio and told Bolin that he better house train the thing, or else. Mako's threat was not an idle one, but now it was partially Mako's fault that Bolin couldn't even hear what they were saying about potty training your Fire Ferret, so it wasn't Bolin's fault anymore, not after this.

The door slams open and an enraged Korra storms through the kitchen, the end of her ponytail smoking, the scent of burnt hair lingering in the room long after she's slammed the door shut and disappeared. "- next week, for more on what to feed your Fire Ferret! Be sure to tune in at 3 to listen!" the program concludes, and Bolin sullenly turns off the radio, having missed most of the crucial stuff.

He gets to his feet and follows the smoke trail into their bedroom, to find Mako glaring out the window, arms crossed. "That was a bad one, huh?" Bolin asks conversationally, stepping past his brother to open the window. Mako turns to face him, eyebrows singed. Bolin struggles to hide the smile that threatens to spread its way across his face; Mako looks ridiculous. "Your eyebrows really got a number done on them, bro," he says cheerily. Mako lets out a huff of irritation, stalks past Bolin and leaves, the door slamming in his wake too.

Which leaves Bolin alone (with Pabu) and he decides that there's never been a better time to clean up Pabu's 'accidents' (that he'd discretely dropped old newspapers on so that Mako wouldn't notice - Bolin told Mako that he was trying to learn the Rabbaroo's strategies after Mako complained about all the newspapers lying in every corner) than now.

—

Korra trudges in sullenly around dinnertime, looking weary and carrying a bag of take-out. Bolin's stomach rumbles as she tosses the bag onto the table and sits down. "Hey," he says. "What's up?" She looks at him, blue eyes sad. "I can't find him anywhere, and I've been looking for hours. He must be really mad at me."

Even Hasook could have figured out that she's talking about Mako. "I'm sure he'll come back for the night," Bolin tells her, opening the bag and getting plates for the two of them. "Mako never sleeps away from home, not since we've had a place to call home. What were you fighting about this time?"

She sighs, looking away as he doles out food onto their plates, refusing to meet his gaze. "It was really dumb, actually. I was jealous because I thought he'd been seeing Asami behind my back and I thought he'd lied to me about where he was yesterday night."

He nods sympathetically. "And then you beat the crap out of him and burned his eyebrows half off?" She looks at him defiantly. "He was the one who burned my hair first! Anyways, I never figured out where he went yesterday, but I guess he wasn't with Asami. She says she was with you." Korra smirks knowingly at him, and he blushes slightly. "Alright, you caught us. We've been dating for a week and a half or so," he admits. "She doesn't want it to get out in the media before she tells her father."

They finish eating just as Mako steps in. At the sight of Korra, Bolin can see him flinch and debate whether to flee the scene before fireballs start flying again, but he knows Mako has too much pride to flee his own home. He's right.

Mako walks past them, nodding curtly, then shuts himself in their room. Bolin turns to Korra, opening his mouth to offer an apology on his brother's behalf, but the words die in his mouth at the sight of her tear-filled eyes. Instead, he puts his hand on her shoulder, "Just go tell him you're sorry " he says softly. "Mako wants you to trust him, and he's hurt that you didn't believe his explanation."

She looks at the table, ashamed. "Actually.. He never had time to explain. I just assumed he'd been with Asami." Bolin's eyes widen slightly. "Well, then let him explain and then apologize. It's best if you do it before he gets to brood so much. Come on, Korra, as the Avatar you can't be afraid of one sullen, broody Firebender." That gets a laugh out of her, and she gets up, disappearing into their bedroom, squaring her shoulders.

—

Half an hour later, Bolin has turned up the radio to full volume, desperately trying to block out the various moans, groans and grunts along with the creaking of the bed springs and occasional scream from Korra (each time accompanied by a "Keep it down, Korra, Bolin will hear" from his brother) and he ends up sitting by the radio far into the night as his brother and Korra.. Make up.


	15. Caught

**Caught**

She's got him with his back pressed up against the wall, panting, hands fisted in her hair while she slowly, torturously kisses her way down his chest, past his navel, lower and lower until.. Mako lets out a loud moan, unable to stop himself, as Korra's lips close around him, her tongue swirling around his tip in patterns that make him buck his hips erratically towards her, make him gently press her head forward as she takes him further into her mouth. Then she reaches up and takes him in her hand, her mouth still working wonders on him as she slowly pumps back and forth. He groans, and then the combination of her hand and lips and tongue is too much and –

He jolts awake with a start, sitting up in his bed, sweating, panting and rock hard. Eyes wide open, he sucks in deep breaths of air as he tries to wrap his mind around what just happened. He just had a wet dream. About Korra. About the Waterbender on his Pro Bending team, who had wormed her way into his mind, poisoned him, corrupted him. About the girl he loves. Never before he'd met Korra had Mako had such thoughts about members of the opposite gender. Sure, he occasionally had had perverted thoughts (he was a teenaged boy, after all), but not for so long and not in such copious amounts. This was the first time, however, that his brain had unconsciously come up with something like this on its own, in such vivid detail. It did not bode well, especially seeing as Mako loved her as a person, too, not just because of her body (which, though, was a bonus). Not that he'd ever had the courage to tell her about his feelings, so he'd just have to stick to his fantasies. Fantastic.

He gets up, hoping Bolin won't wake up (wouldn't that be ironic, to have his little brother, who could sleep through any natural disaster, or other disaster, wake up and see Mako sneaking off for a cold shower with a noticeable tent in his pants?), and tiptoes towards the bathroom when –

"HEY!" The door flies open, revealing the source of the noise. Korra. Of course. Mako groans mentally (while another part of him whimpers in the corner) as she enters the apartment, carrying a bag from which delightful aromas spread. Food. Despite the situation, Mako's stomach rumbles.

"I brought breakfast!" Korra announces, plopping down on a chair in the kitchen. "Hey, where's Bolin?" Mako turns around in confusion, noticing for the first time that Bolin's bed is empty. Oh. He hadn't notice that on his way to the bathroom to take a cold shower seeing as he'd just had a wet dream about Korra. Who was sitting right in front of him. Which brought him back to the uncomfortable situation at hand. "I was actually going to go take a shower," he mumbles nervously, trying to look anywhere but at the very attractive girl sitting in the chair in front of him and mentally realizing that they were alone. He was alone. With Korra.

Mako felt himself growing harder (not that he'd thought that was possible) despite everything. Korra looks at him curiously, noting his odd behavior. "What's the rush? Why don't we eat while it's still hot? You can shower after, you're not that dirty." Unable to come up with a plausible excuse that she won't pick at until it falls apart at the seams and he has to tell the truth, he grumbles something unintelligible and sits down at the table, glaring at the food as Korra gets up, finds plates and forks for them and starts heaping food onto his plate. He picks at his breakfast as she shovels her food down, not hungry and decidedly uncomfortable. "What's wrong?" she asks upon noticing his untouched plate. "It's your favorite.. are you okay?" His tight, forced nod apparently doesn't convince her, as she gets up, coming over to him and putting a hand on his forehead before he can stop her.

"Wow," she says. "You're sweating.. have you got a fever?" He's blushing furiously now, hoping she doesn't look down and see the real source of his discomfort. "Yeah," he says quickly, latching onto her theory. "Let me go take a cold shower, it might help." "Alright," Korra says, and as Mako gets up from the chair, he stumbles. Right into Korra, who's still in front of him. Which leads to him crashing into her, both of them tumbling onto the floor, his face inches from her. Despite himself, Mako can't help but feel her breasts pressed against his chest, her puffs of breath gusting over his lips, can't help but lose himself in her blue eyes. Oh, and he can't help but feel the way his erection is firmly nestled right between her legs.

As he hastily moves to get up, he presses against her for a moment, and she stops trying to untangle herself from him, stilling completely as she realizes what the bulge pressing against her really is. Mako wants to crawl into a hole and die from shame. This is hardly appropriate, lusting after Korra. She's just a friend, he intones, even as his body tells him otherwise. Just a friend. They're just friends. He's jolted out of trying to convince himself about this by Korra's voice. "Mako.." she says slowly, and he's filled with dread. She must be disgusted, grossed out, revolted by him, by the thoughts she now knows he's had about her. "You're not sick at all, are you?" she asks, raising in eyebrow at him. He shakes his head mutely. He expects her to punch him, to shove him off of her, to yell, to slam the door and leave. He does not, however, expect her to smile and reach her hand down to firmly grasp him.

He arches into her grasp with a gasp of shock, his questioning gaze meeting hers as she strokes him, a smile playing on her lips. "You want this." She says it as a statement, not as a question, and Mako nods jerkily, stroking her face with the pad of his thumb. "I have for a while now," he says hoarsely. She looks him in the eye, the glint in her eyes being replaced by a hard, steely look. "Look, Mako," she says, and he can hear the uncertainty she's trying valiantly to hide. "I'm not.. not like the girls Bolin gets. Not a.. bird in the hand. I don't want to do anything more if it doesn't mean anything to you, so.." He cuts her off by firmly pressing his lips to hers, trying to show her through actions what he can't express in words. Mako thinks Korra understands (at least, she's kissing him back with a fervor) and her hand slips beneath the waistband of his pants, grasping him and stroking, skin on skin.

It feels better than it ever has when he's imagined his hand was Korra's during multiple showers, better than anything his brain could conjure up in his dreams. He bucks his hips against her hand, nuzzling his face in the crook of her neck, muffling the noises escaping him as she strokes back and forth, her lips leaving kisses on his face. All too soon, he feels himself coming, burying his face in her neck, groaning with pleasure. And all too soon, reality crashes down upon him as he realizes what just happened. What they'd just done. Flushing in shame, he hurriedly gets up, offering Korra a hand and running his other hand through his hair, unable to meet her gaze.

Because she's just jerked him off, on the floor of the attic. And Mako doesn't think that this is the beginning to a healthy relationship, not when he hasn't even asked the girl to be his girlfriend or told her of his feelings. "Look, Korra," he says, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. "I.. please don't regret that. It's not.. I wasn't.. it's not just lust. I.. have feelings for you. I have for a while now, but I haven't had the courage to say anything." He's still staring at the floor as he says this, waiting for her impending rejection. He's taken completely by surprise when Korra takes his hand and tells him "I have feelings for you too, idiot, what took you so long to tell me this? Does this mean we're dating now?" He answers her by cupping her face in his hands and gently kissing her, interrupted only by Bolin banging in through the door with a "Hey, Mako have you seen Pabu? Oh, hey Korra, what are - what are you guys going? What's going on here?"


	16. Confronted

Based on the promo for Episode 4.

* * *

><p><strong>Confronted<strong>

He's waiting for her in the gym; she's late for practice, as always (even though he's told Bolin to sleep in today; there's no need to practice for something as useless as the championship, not now that Korra's gone and put all their lives on the line), and he, for once, is seething with rage.

Because Korra is stupid, so stupid, and she's going to get them all killed. The moment she walks in, he grabs her by the shoulders and roughly pushes her against the wall, ignoring her surprised "Hey, where's Bolin?" as she appears.

"Are you _stupid?_" Mako had meant to say this in an even, controlled tone of voice, but it comes out as a shout, which echoes in the otherwise-empty gym. He regrets the words as soon as they've left his mouth; he wants to rephrase them into the more appropriate "You are stupid", but he hopes she takes it as a rhetorical question which doesn't need an answer. And she does (or she's just too stunned by his expressing an emotion for once), because she keeps her mouth mercifully shut.

For a second, at least.

The anger that he's expected flares up in her blue eyes, matching his seething rage. "I did what I had to!" she shouts, shoving him away forcefully. He's prepared, however, and only takes a step back, clenching his hands into fists at his sides.

Mako pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep, hopefully calming breath. "You think that challenging Amon to a duel and telling him to face you "if he's man enough" is going to help you? It's going to get us all killed, Korra! It's not going to solve anything!"

Before this, he would have found her recklessness almost endearing, in the way that a mother might smile at the way her reckless child plays in a sandbox. But now, he finds it infuriating. In her, it is a weakness.

He continues his tirade, having stunned her into momentary silence (unless it's the fact that he's not giving her an opportunity to speak). "Look, Korra," he snaps. "You can't do everything alone. Didn't the rally teach you anything? Look how many people are opposed to benders, look how many followers and henchmen Amon has. If he chooses to accept your stupid invitation, he won't fight fair. He'll have an army of chi-blockers with him, and you, being the stupid, naïve girl you are won't even consider cheating. You'll walk straight into his trap."

"Now wait just a-" she starts, but he reaches out and grasps her arms, pinning them to her sides as he cuts her off.

"He'll defeat you, Korra, and you know this deep down. I know it. And when he does, people will see his ideas as justified. He'll be rendered immortal, famous for having defeated the Avatar, and his ideas will spread like fire. And if you against the odds manage to defeat him, it'll fuel the rage. He'll become a martyr, and the hatred against benders will increase. You never think things through, Korra!"

She's quiet as the truth of his words sinks in. He drops his hands, waiting for her to fight back, to yell at him. This he can deal with it (in fact, he expects this from her), but what he can't deal with is the tears that well in her eyes. Suddenly, the headstrong, confident Avatar that the press sees is transformed into a vulnerable, unsure teenage girl that only he sees.

He sighs, then carefully embraces her, holding her tight against him as she shakes with silent sobs. After her tears abate, he hears her muffled voice. "What was I supposed to do, Mako? I'll admit I wasn't thinking, but I can't just wait around. It's not like me to go around figuring out everything about my enemy before doing anything.. in fact, I've never really had an enemy before, not like this. I can't come off as weak, so I had to challenge him."

He strokes her hair, sighing softly. "At least let other people help you. This isn't a problem you can solve by beating up the guy in charge. And nobody knows anything about Amon, not yet, so it's way too soon to be challenging him one-on-one."

Mako knows they both speak the truth. He also has no solution for this problem.

"Just don't get yourself killed," he says quietly, and Korra laughs, the sharp, short sound so unlike her normal laugh muffled against his chest.

"I'll do my best," she says.


	17. Unhinged

She can't do it. She can't look at him without being reminded of the betrayal she felt when he appeared at the gala with Asami, the jealousy she felt for the beautiful girl at his side.

She can't face him without being angry about something that, deep down, she knows she has no right to be angry about.

But she is, and that, among other things, is getting in the way during Pro Bending practice. Korra feels helplessly misunderstood; besides Tenzin, nobody knows what she's going through. Bolin and Mako have no idea how she's feeling, how terrified she was when Amon appeared in front of her, how afraid she was of losing her bending.

An Avatar without bending. Pathetic.

And it was only through sheer luck that she remained unscathed. Physically, at least. Because Amon, for reasons that belonged to him, had decided to spare her; for the moment, as he so kindly had reminded her. She was afraid, deathly afraid of their impending showdown, the one that they both knew was inevitable. She was unready, unprepared for anything of that magnitude; if anything, that was the lesson she'd learnt that fateful night on the island.

So, of course, Pro Bending is the last thing on her mind, but nobody seems to understand that.

"You're not focusing, Korra!" Mako snaps at her from the other side of the gym. "What did I just teach you about your stance? You've got to keep your feet firmly on the ground and your stance needs to be stronger; otherwise you'll be blown out of the arena as soon as you get hit by anything. Try to remember that."

She bites back a sharp retort and corrects her stance, grumbling slightly. It's early, and she's so tired; something that probably was due to the fact that since her 'duel' with Amon, she'd been unable to sleep. Either plagued by nightmares or just unable to fall asleep, she found herself sitting in her bed throughout most of the night, scared and lonely.

A few minutes and multiple failed tasks later, Mako throws up his hands in defeat. "I give up!" he exclaims, exasperated. "You haven't practiced at all, and you obviously don't care about the championship either! This is useless, a waste of time. We'd be better off finding another Waterbender, one who actually knows how to Pro Bend!"

His words sting, and the unfairness of them really gets to her. "You have no idea what I've been going through!" she shouts, stalking forward and forcefully shoving Mako to the ground while Bolin looks on helplessly. "You have no idea what it's like, being the main target of the revolution, having everyone expect great things from you, because you _don't care enough to ask me how I'm feeling_!" With that being said, she tears off her practice helmet, throwing it to the ground, and exits the gym, slamming the door in her wake.

It doesn't take long before she starts to feel guilty; Mako does care, at least a little. And he had asked her if she was okay after the night on the island; Korra also knows how much the championship means to him, what the winnings would entail for him and Bolin.

But when, on her way back to the changing rooms to apologize, she spots him with Asami, she decides that he doesn't deserve an apology anyways.


	18. With Unclouded Eyes

I guess this sort of answers korrawr's prompt (Korra's reaction when she finds out Mako, her crush, and Asami are dating) but then it drowned in a bucketful of angst.

Because, as of yet, Mako does not give a shit about Korra's feelings for him, however aware of them he may or may not be.

Henceforth came this monstrosity.

She was, she had finally concluded after many sleepless nights, sad, afraid, scared, and lonely; not the best combination for someone whose duty was to use her power to keep balance in the world, when that someone couldn't even keep balance within herself.

The sadness stemmed from the expectations which weighed down upon her, crushing her until she had to fight to draw a breath, silently extinguishing her previous excitement and joy. The joy she'd felt upon arriving in the city, the way she felt she could handle everything, be the Avatar she was destined to be; it was all gone, now, and she was slowly coming to realize how harsh the world really is.

Greatness wasn't that easy. Not as easy as she'd thought it would be, not as easy as everyone made it out to be. They spoke about greatness as if it was an object, something one could easily stumble upon, something that came easily to those from whom it was expected. But Korra had no idea how she was supposed to accomplish the great things everyone expected from her. When she first reached Republic City, she was naïve, and now the harsh reality of the situation bearing down upon her had extinguished that naivety, like the way she would extinguish a fire in the palm of her hand.

Most of all, she was afraid, afraid like she'd never been before. Before, locked up in the compound at the South Pole, she had never even been aware that there were things in this world that she would, could fear. She had thought she was invincible, and now the irony of it all had struck her so hard she felt it was laughable.

She didn't think she'd ever feel as terrified ever again in her life as when Amon had ambushed her at Aang's memorial statue. He had had her completely at his mercy, he could have done _anything_ to her, things far worse than taking away her bending.

Korra shuddered at the thought; the mere presence of the memory in her mind tainted her with fear, and the fear spread like poison throughout her veins. What if they'd infiltrated the island? What if she was going to be ambushed again?

Getting up, she paced restlessly around her room, then peeked out the window and sighed with relief, seeing nothing that shouldn't have been there.

"It's alright," she muttered to herself. "I'm being paranoid." She plopped back onto her bed.

The loneliness, too, was overpowering. Her face had fallen the minute she'd seen Asami, back then just a nameless, beautiful, slim, feminine girl clinging to Mako's arm. Hiroshi Sato's daughter, she had soon learned. And Mako's.. girlfriend. She winced at the word. Maybe they were just dating; maybe they'd break up soon; maybe it was nothing but a passing fancy for both of them. But as soon as the thought struck her, she knew it to be folly. The way he was smiling when he approached, the way he smiled down at her.. it was unlike any other smile she'd ever seen on his face. A smile of pure happiness.

She knew she'd reacted childishly; crossing her arms and rudely ignoring Asami's kind introduction in favor of informing Mako that no, he hadn't mentioned Asami at all. He could have warned her. He hadn't even mentioned that he got run over by Asami; she'd been worried, of course, and immediately asked him if he was okay. But he didn't care for her concern, didn't care about her painfully obvious feelings for him that had been present ever since they first met.

Bolin was everything she could ask for in a friend, but still, Korra's heart ached. It ached for what Mako and Asami had, but she didn't want that with anyone else but Mako. She told herself over and over that it was just a crush and why couldn't she have a crush on Bolin instead, Bolin who was there for her in every way, Bolin who liked her, Bolin who was so sweet and sensitive?

She couldn't help the sad expression that had made its way over her face as Mako, oblivious to her sadness, had gone on about the Pro Bending tournament. And he had looked handsome, finely dressed and fitting completely in with the crowd at the gala; he and Asami had looked.. perfect together. A young, good-looking couple, struck with the lightning bolt of what, true love? She didn't know, but try as she might, Korra wasn't happy for them.

She knew it was selfish and childish of her, but what with everything else going downhill in her life at the moment, there was nothing to make it go uphill at all, nothing to turn her around.

Her situation wasn't helped by Chief Bei Fong's immense dislike of her; Korra knew it wasn't personal, it was just that she was the Avatar. It seemed unjust and unfair, and it did nothing but contribute to the feeling that being the Avatar was a burden, something she'd never, ever seen it as before. She'd seen it as a privilege. But, when she thought about, was it really?

Maybe, she thought, if she'd been a normal girl, she would have had a chance to be pretty, well-raised, polite, and girly. All the things that seemed to entice Mako.

These things changed nothing, however, and after everything that had happened these past few days, along with Amon's terrifying ambush, she merely felt defeated. Small, little, and afraid. She'd wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and forget about the world, as well as have the world forget about her; all these feelings she'd experienced lately, she'd never felt the likes of before.

And she had come to regret things. She regretted that she didn't listen to Tenzin, that she never took his advice. She regretted letting Tarrlok provoke her into joining his task force, once she'd realized how bad of an influence he really was, how wrong his methods were. But it did nothing to quench the constant fear that burned in the pit of her stomach, the fear that Amon would return for her, would destroy her. Because she knew he'd keep that promise, and she feared that confrontation that they both very well knew was, after all, inevitable.

Before, she'd been reckless and stupid. Korra had thought she could take on Amon, without knowing anything about him, and she thought she could win. If she was honest with herself, she knew that she was lucky, so insanely lucky, that he hadn't killed her. And she didn't understand why he didn't remove her bending; he could have, really; her martyrdom was of little to no consequence, even if she had become an Avatar unable to bend any element. Her challenge to Amon could have cost her anything and everything; only because he had decided to spare her had she escaped unscathed. And that made her fear his plan more than anything else.

Korra had no idea what to do with herself, no idea where to go from here. The days passed; how they did so, she didn't know, but they did. Slowly, she began to come back to life, healing from the psychological terror that Amon had inflicted on her. She focused on Pro Bending and her Airbending training, completely ignoring Mako's relationship with Asami, which really got to her, loath as she was to admit it. She was unable to dislike Asami, for the girl was so kind to her, despite the obvious jealousy that Korra knew surrounded her like a black cloud whenever she was in their presence.

Bolin always did his best to cheer her up, but it was only temporary, for all too soon the memories of Asami with Mako would come back to her, and she'd once again try to move on, to put a damper on her rampant feelings, feelings that were useless.

She barely spoke to Mako, not even to counter his sharp criticism when she broke a rule of Pro Bending, not to respond to his polite questions of how she was feeling, not more than to say hello.

Today was no exception.

"Hey, Korra," Mako said, arm wrapped around Asami. Korra tried hard to ignore this fact, however she knew her face always fell slightly at the sight of the two of them together.

"Hey," she said quietly, then trudged past the happy couple and into the gym, immediately heading for the corner that Bolin occupied, her back towards Mako, steadily ignoring him.

After training, she went for lunch with Bolin, then headed back to the island for Airbending training, and also because she'd begun to feel paranoid whilst in the city, afraid of being ambushed again, now that she knew how defenseless she was.

And slowly, she began to accept the fact that there was nothing to be done about it; Mako was with Asami.

_If he was asked to pinpoint when, exactly, his life began spiraling forcefully out of control, he could probably name two different occasions when it started. The first time, it wasn't that bad. The second time, it was bad. _

_The first time was when his brother brought Avatar Korra to watch their match. Mako managed to adapt to that change, chaotic and disconcerting as it was (at least they didn't have to deal with Hasook anymore. __Fucking Hasook.__), even going as far as to call Korra his 'friend', though that did take a while. _

_But the second time, after he began dating Asami Sato and the Avatar found out, well, he was still reeling from that one._

_It had started as just another date with his, well, gorgeous girlfriend (he still had no idea what he'd done to deserve someone like this; he still wasn't sure if he hadn't just been dreaming or severely hallucinating the past few weeks); a gala, this time. A gala for the Avatar. For Korra._

_The difference was that he'd been steadily (though he would have said "not steadily, it just happened") avoiding Korra for a few weeks, coincidentally, ever since he'd started dating Asami. He wasn't sure why, though his subconscious told him that it was because he didn't want her to find out, not before he was ready to tell her, though he didn't want to admit why he was hiding it from her. Not that he really knew why, of course._

_It wasn't hard to avoid her, seeing as their schedules were radically different, and the only thing they had in common was training, which she hadn't shown up for anyways. So, he just happened to not hang around in the gym or in the attic; places where she might have put in an appearance. It seemed she was doing the same; from what he heard from Bolin, Korra spent most of her time out at the island; apparently, she was pretty traumatized from her encounter with Amon._

_Deep down, it pained Mako that he hadn't been there to help her after that; he'd been too busy courting Asami. He knew it was wrong, knew that Korra was his friend, too, and that as such he was obligated to stand by her, to help her. But he'd failed her by choosing Asami, by pouring all his effort that he'd had to spare aside from Pro Bending into his relationship with her._

_And he couldn't lie; the first few weeks were like a dream. He was seeing a side of life that he'd never before experienced, one that he thought he'd never experience. Asami was used to the best, the finest of everything, and she treated him to all their dates, despite his half-hearted protests. She was caring, kind, and compassionate, not to mentioning insanely attractive. Slender, with curves in all the right places and beautiful features. _

_But lately, Mako had begun to feel as if something was missing in their relationship; it was, he felt.. devoid of passion. It lacked fire, the fire he thought would come with a relationship, the heat and burning and sensations he expected to feel coursing through his veins when they kissed. But when they did, it was but a flicker, a flicker that he felt had the potential to grow into something much more.. but with someone else._

_He felt guilty, plagued as he was by these conflicted feelings. On one hand, he loved the life that Asami lived, loved to be a part of it, and definitely liked her. He couldn't deny the physical attraction that was there, but after these few weeks, it had.. fizzled out, and all but died. He'd been incredibly smitten by her good looks at first sight, then drawn further in by her kind personality, but it didn't feel.. right. Not anymore. _

_Furthermore, Mako was not oblivious to the way Korra felt about him. He knew she liked him; at first, he merely ignored it. But now that things had, at least from his point of view, changed concerning Asami, he didn't know how he felt anymore. He was simply confused, although, even though he hated to admit it, there was something that stirred within him whenever Korra smiled at him, as rare as those occasions were nowadays. _

_Now, he felt rotten when she'd found out about his dating Asami at the gala, felt rotten upon recalling how her face fell ever so slightly when she saw them. Back then, when it had happened, he was still floating in the clouds, completely filled with bliss. But now, things had changed._

_Another week passed in this fashion; he remained confused and out-of-touch with Korra. Until, of course, he came back late one evening from a date with Asami, only to find Korra outside the arena, waiting for him._

_She wasn't sure when she'd first noticed the change in him; maybe it just corresponded with her return to her old, confident self. She'd whirl around during training, only to see him hastily avert his gaze where it had been lingering on the sway of her hips as she moved or where he'd stared a second too long at her chest. At first, Korra was merely perplexed concerning his reasons for staring at her, when he had a very hot girlfriend who was right next to him most of the time, and she dismissed it as him wanting to find a reason to criticize her; perhaps her stance was off or something. But as time went on, she knew it was more than that._

_She watched Mako and Asami, and she saw how he was the first one to pull away when they kissed, how Asami was the one to take his hand, the one to sling his arm over her shoulders. He never initiated anything, not anymore._

_And she'd decided to confront him about it, once and for all. Full of confidence, a small smirk tugged at her lips as he approached her where she stood. It was almost nighttime now, and the weather in the city was on the verge of being cold; she's wearing her parka for the first time since she left the South Pole._

_Arms crossed, she watched him closely as he stepped up to her. "What's with the late night visit, Korra?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow. She wasted no time in getting to the point, back to her old, confident self._

_"Admit it," she said, hands firmly on her hips. "You like me." It was posed as a statement, not as a question, and she was rewarded with silence. _

_Mako looked away uncomfortably and stared out at the ocean and Air Temple Island. Suddenly, Korra was filled with desperation and longing. All the loneliness had taken its toll on her, and she acted on instinct. She closed the gap between them, eyes firmly shut, and kissed him. _

Shocked, his eyes flew open when Korra's lips met his, but once he got over the initial shock, he felt the passion that his relationship with Asami so sorely had lacked flaring up, and he closed his eyes, kissing Korra back. Too soon, she pulled away, and he could see the longing coupled with sadness in her bright blue eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said suddenly. "I know you're with Asami. That wasn't fair to either of you." And just like that, she's gone. She'd dived into the bay, and was gone, having swum faster than Mako had ever seen anyone swim.

"Wait, Korra!" he called, but he knew she couldn't hear him. And he also knew he had to make everything right.

From the first day she'd met him, Asami had liked Mako. She remembered how handsome she had found him, despite his disheveled appearance after she crashed into him with her moped; she remembered how cutely he'd blushed at her, how dorky he was. It was cute; _he_ was cute. And it went from there.

She'd never not gotten something she wanted; while some may have called her spoiled, she saw herself as privileged. Lucky, even. So she had no qualms about paying for their dates, buying Mako expensive clothes, treating him to everything she'd been treated to her whole life. Despite this, she wasn't shallow, nor was she stupid. She was still a kind, considerate person. And an observant one.

She saw the way Korra looked at Mako, her gaze filled with longing and desire. And, as of lately, she saw how Mako looked at Korra in return. And because of it, her heart broke just a little.

During their next date, three days after their last one, she confronted Mako about what had happened; she knew something had happened between him and Korra, since they'd both been acting strangely.

"So," she said, putting down her chopsticks. "What happened with Korra?" Her suspicions were confirmed with Mako's slight blush and stuttered exclamation "I-I don't know what you're talking about, Asami!" She sighed. "I know something happened," she said quietly. "Please, Mako. Be honest with me."

He ran a hand through his hair, disheveling it just the way she found most attractive. "She kissed me," he sighed. "I.. I'm sorry, Asami. I kissed her back."

Her heart sank, though this was what she'd surmised all along; that there was something going on between Korra and Mako, something unresolved. "It's over, then?" she asked, surprised at the steely note in her voice. He nodded sadly, gazed fixed firmly on the table.

"I can't undo what happened, Asami, and I'm confused right now. I think it's best if we just take a break for a while.. until things are resolved," Mako told her quietly, but they both knew that there wouldn't be a break; this was the end.

Asami flagged down a waiter and paid for their dinner. Getting up, she bent down and kissed him on the cheek. "Goodbye, Mako," she told him, and as she left, the tears slipping down her face, she felt her heart break, but knew that she was letting him go because she loved him. Because she didn't want him to suffer; because she wanted him to be happy, even if it wasn't with her.

He waited a week before he'd finally managed to muster up enough courage to visit Korra at Air Temple Island. It amused him slightly that the last time he'd been there, it was because he couldn't find Bolin; that had been so long ago, or at least it seemed so. Not that he knew where Bolin was now, either.

He hurried off the boat and headed towards the main building on the island, slightly wary of the upcoming confrontation with Korra; she had been avoiding him more diligently than ever after she'd kissed him, and he knew why. Because she still liked him. And now, Mako was finally ready to tell her that yes, he liked her too.

It had taken him a week to fully understand what he felt for her, but now, he knew that he liked her. It wasn't as if he'd always liked her – hell, she'd been annoying when they'd first met, at least in his opinion – but somehow, when he thought back to how she'd helped him find Bolin, how she had, in a way, taken care of _him_, he thought it felt right. Being with her. Not that he'd seen much of her for the past month, seeing as their relationship was pretty much non-existent at the moment.

But now, Mako knew what he wanted. He was sure of it. The only hard part was getting it.

"Korra! Come on! We're _driving _to the city! Let's go!"

She couldn't suppress the laugh that escaped her lips at the sight of Ikki, this time with Jinora in the front seat, pretending to drive the Satomobile given to her by Tarrlok. It still sat outside; all she'd done with it was to remove the ribbons that had adorned it, then she'd just left it there. She had no use for a Satomobile; after all, she had Naga, and she couldn't drive, anyway. And the thing looked atrocious; what was with that _color_?

Her Airbending training was pretty much postponed; Tenzin had been there to witness firsthand the results of Amon's ambush. He'd been the one to hold her as she cried, as she finally managed to confess her fears. He'd been by her side the whole time, not just as a mentor, but as a father figure to her; supporting her and dealing with her impatience and recklessness. She'd promised herself to work harder on her Airbending training; he had never deserved that attitude she'd displayed towards Airbending when she first moved in, but as a result of the 'duel' with Amon (and the subsequent reaction of the press and her subsequent breakdown), there was no time for Airbending.

Everyone had agreed that fighting the Revolution, though not with methods like Tarrlok's, was the important thing.

There was nothing much for her to do except stay out of sight; she didn't want to draw any unwanted attention, not after the result of the gala (which led to her joining the task force, which led to her challenging Amon due to the success of the raid).

She tuned out the various car-like noises (Ikki) and quiet comments on various things (Jinora), choosing to bask in the midday sun. Today, she was happy; for once, she wasn't worried, not about anything. She wasn't even worried about the fact that she'd kissed Mako (after all, he _had_ kissed her back); she decided to deal with that when the time came.

Which happened to be today.

"Ooh! Korra, that cuuute Firebender is here to see you! Is he your boyfriend? Are you dating? Are you going to kiss him? Does this mean he liiiikes you the way you like him?" She was jolted out of her reverie by Ikki's loud, eager voice, and opened her eyes to see Mako striding towards her, looking nervous.

Great. He was probably going to yell at her for kissing him when he had a girlfriend. Korra got to her feet, hands planted firmly on her feet. She wasn't going to make excuses for her feelings, not anymore. He just had to deal with it, whether he wanted to or not.

She looked mad.

Suddenly feeling a slight fluttering in the pit of his stomach, Mako sucked in a deep breath, trying to ignore the not-so-discreet whispers from the young girls in the Satomobile. Great. He didn't need witnesses, not when he was surely going to make a fool of himself.

"Uh, hey Korra, can I talk to you? Alone?" he asked, pointedly looking at her. She nodded, the defiant glare not leaving her face. She turned to the pair of kids in the Satomobile (since when did Korra have a Satomobile? Did she even know how to drive?).

"Scram," she said. "Or the Satomobile disappears. Forever."

"Awwww!" Pouting, the smaller girl got out of the driver's seat, the other one following her. They headed back towards the house, still whispering loudly, with occasional giggles and looks directed towards Mako and Korra.

He sighed, steeling himself.

"Me and Asami broke up." Mako figured it was best to get to the point, without skirting around the issue at hand. "A week ago." He hoped he wasn't imagining the flicker of hope that appeared in her eyes.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked cautiously, sounding apprehensive.

"Because.. because I.. I.." unable to express what he wanted in words, he decided to show her. Praying she wouldn't hit him, he covered the distance between them in a swift step, then leaned forward and kissed her, gently cupping her face in his hands. She made some sort of shocked noise, and he braced himself, expecting her to shove him away. Instead, he was slightly shocked (but mostly just thrilled) when she suddenly responded; she kissed him back, wrapping her arms around him.

He pulled away first, breathless. "So, uh.. will you go out with me?"

Her answering smile was dazzling.

Their first date was a disaster.

They couldn't agree on anything, bickering about where to eat ("What, you can't handle Water Tribe food?"), what to eat ("Stop being such a wimp, Mako, and try these Stewed Sea Prunes. You _said _you could handle this!"), and who would pay ("Even Hiroshi Sato said you were dirt poor! I'll pay, I actually have the yuans for it. So shut up.").

And then they ran into Tahno. Their first date ended at the police station; a displeased Chief Bei Fong sitting opposite a soaking wet Avatar with icicles melting in her hair, a burnt Tahno with his eyebrows almost completely singed off, the smell of burning hair surrounding him, and an irritated Mako with a large bruise blooming on his face.

Their second date ended with them having to babysit Tenzin's kids.

Surprisingly, Mako was the one who excelled with children, while Korra acted like a child herself. She was also unable to exert any control over the three children, and their night ended with Korra, having thrown herself onto her bed, loudly complaining that she never wanted to have kids.

"Not ever," she moaned loudly. And Mako figured that maybe this wasn't the best time to tell her that he wanted kids, lots of them.

She ran her fingers through his hair, still basking in the afterglow of it all. Mako smiled at her, his arm tightening around her bare waist, drawing her closer to him.

Korra smiled and curled into his chest with a happy sigh as Mako kissed the top of her head gently. She yawned sleepily. "Hey, Mako?" she muttered. "D'you think it would have been different if I'd never kissed you that night?"

He chuckled lightly. "Nope. I think I would have come to my senses at some point and asked you out anyways."

Her smile grew, and in that moment, she couldn't have cared less about Amon or the revolution; she felt safe, loved, and content.

"I love you," Mako murmured quietly, and she pressed a kiss to his collarbone in return.

"Home is wherever you are," She said simply. And they both knew it was the truth.


End file.
